Former Blackhawks GM and Senior VP, Bob Pulford, Was In Fact The Worst

(The Athletic)–Not everyone at the Blackhawks liked Dustin. Bob Pulford, the senior vice president of hockey, growled by the end of the week that Dustin “was the second-worst player ever drafted by the Hawks.” Dustin could not be the worst pick ever because Pulford had already awarded that distinction to Duncan Keith, who we drafted in 2002. Pulford would turn out to be a real obstacle for Dustin in his quest to reach the NHL.

Just an INCREDIBLE little throw away quote from Mike Smith about Bob Pulford in the Athletic today. Two worst guys the Hawks ever drafted? That’s easy, Duncan Keith and Dustin Byfuglien. Look, I know Pulford was in the game for 50-something-years and is in the Hall of Fame, but when you think of the names that really ran the Blackhawks franchise into the dark ages there’s two principle guys that come to mind: Bill Wirtz and Bob Pulford. This quote is laugh out loud funny. Duncan Keith is a two-time Norris Trophy winner, gold medalist, and a sure-fire Hall of famer. Dusty Buff is probably the favorite to win the Conn Smythe this year if the Jets keep rolling along and one of the more dominant players in the game. I can just picture old man Pulford looking at Keith for one second and grumbling “he’s too skinny” then looking at Buff and grumbling “he’s too fat”, farting, and then walking out of the room. Mark Bell though? That guy was chiseled from steel.

Pulford had been with the Blackhawks in some capacity since the late-1970s and four separate stints as the Head Coach and four different stints as the GM. That guy must just know where all the Wirtz family bodies are burried because even when the Blackhawks moved him out of the organization in 2007 they made him VP of the Wirtz Corporation.

Anyways, just a little reminder of how bad things were and how spoiled we all have been for the last decade. The last three seasons haven’t been great, but just thank the lord that we don’t have to watch a product created by Dollar Bill and his right-hand man, Pully.